Where did we go wrong in our customers’ expectations of the products, we sold them?

Managing service providers (MSPs) have been asking about this issue for years, and the mismatch comes from a hidden gap between what you’re selling your customers and what they believe they’re getting. The true danger starts here. To your customer, you are the MSP who is responsible for addressing any problems they have with their service provider (SSP).

How do you level the playing field between what the customer thinks they’re paying for and what they really receive? Value billing must be used to define expectations and a fresh perspective on managed IT services must be taken.

You have every right to know what you’re getting into when you sign a technical agreement with an MSP. However, your customers should be aware of the responsibilities you do and do not bear while working on their behalf.

Managed IT services might be seen in a different light

It’s not a matter of technology.

No one buys technology for the sake of owning it; that is never the goal of a purchase.

To operate their firm, they need that piece of technology, and the demand will vary over time as technology advances and the industry changes.

Many of our partners have had success with the value billing assets we supply. Consider the value that this data provides to your customers when determining whether to charge for it.

Will the technology and services customers acquire provide the expected results?

It’s difficult to market managed IT services to new customers since they don’t know what their data requirements are. It might be tough to convey that to a customer. It’s no longer necessary to have a support desk today. As an MSP, it’s your duty to discover the right technology and services to meet the needs of your clients.

What’s the secret to doing that? By returning to the data in all of your value-prop exchanges. Since clients don’t need to know how you’re providing what they want, it’s challenging to sell your managed IT services’ value. Let your clients tell you what they want from your products and services, and then adjust the way you sell them.

When putting up a proposal, don’t use the old-fashioned method of listing all the products and services you’ll be providing. When you know what your customers want and how you’re going to obtain it for them, you’ll be able to craft a strategy that will help you meet their needs.

From the start, ask questions

Ignorance, as they say, is bliss. You will always be held responsible for what your customer doesn’t know if you are providing managed IT services. Ask them questions that will make them realize how little they really know, such as:

• Tell me about your customers and data in your current company situation. What are they doing with it, and for what purpose?
• There are a few ways to get this information.
• Do you need to access it from a certain location?
• What kind of support will we need to provide for the people who work for you?
• Are you going to migrate their data to their home computers if they’re going to be working from there?
• Please tell me whether you need to protect their own computers.

Most managed service providers (MSPs) would agree that prospects that request a meeting with you are dissatisfied with their present offers and don’t believe they are receiving the value they paid for from those products. Unhappiness stems from their existing technology supplier coming to market for a technology or service, and it’s under-priced for the value that they are providing to their customer.

It’s here where you may generate money in our sector, and it all begins with creating expectations based on results.

Expectations are set depending on the results

A data-centric, outcome-based approach is the only way to stand out in our sector. It’s the key to maturity and establishing a reasonable value for oneself. If you’re brave enough to tell them it’s because they’re charging too little for their services, they’ll be more than happy to pay the higher amount.

Keep in mind that your customer is looking for data recovery, accessibility, and security model at the end of the day. As soon as you have their expectations in mind, you can sell them precisely what they need at a reasonable price, and then put a strategy into action.